Crimean girl won a grand-prix at “Oriental Bazar” festival

Music festival of ethnic, folk and popular music ‘Oriental Bazar’ took place in Sudak, Crimea on September 6-8.

This year the owner of the Grand Prix became 19-year old Crimean Fazile Ibraimova. The prize fund for the Grand Prix holder became five thousand dollars.

Fazile Ibraimova also received a TURKSOY Prize, which was handed over to her under standing ovations from the audience. The TURKSOY Prize is an award by TURKSOY Secretary General Dusen Kaseinov to the best performing singer selected among artists determined by the Permanent Council of Turkic Speaking Countries.

Right after the handing over the award, the congratulation message of TURKSOY Secretary General Dusen Kaseinov was communicated to the audience.

The 1st place was taken by Irina Barhatova (Russia) and Agshin Abdullayev (Azerbaijan); 2nd place - by Matin (Uzbekistan) and Dmitry Sergeyev (Belarus); 3rd place - by Jem Gurdal (Turkey) and Lidia Isaac (Romania).

The festival lasted for three days. A total of 23 contestants took part in the festival.

“The festival had a wonderful atmosphere. So many talented participants took part in it. This year as never it was difficult to choose the winner as all of performers were very talented possessing excellent vocal abilities,” said Lilia Abdullayeva, chief editor of music programs on Crimean State TV to QHA correspondent.

One of the organizers of the festival, editor of Crimean State TV Chanel Seyran Mambetov said earlier that the festival is financed by Turkish State TRT Avaz and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey. He stressed he does not understand the Crimean authorities, who don’t provide support to the festival.

“The Ministry of Culture of Crimea doesn’t allocate any funds for the festival; may be because it is being organized by Crimean Tatars,” said Mambetov.

Note: The Oriental Bazar festival was first held in 2004. During the nine years, the festival was held in various towns of Crimea, including Bakchisaray, Evpatoria and Yalta. The purpose of the festival is supporting talented artists and encouraging love for folk and world music, promoting mutual understanding and relations between different countries.